[0:00] We shall now turn to the chapter which we read together, Revelation chapter 3, our text for this evening is verse 20. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 20.
[0:15] Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me.
[0:30] Amen. Sometimes I hear folks saying, I'd love to be a Christian. I pray to God that he would save me but nothing happens. I'm seeking for God but I can't find him.
[0:50] Well I believe that here tonight you have a verse particularly addressed to you. This verse tells us that God is more willing to save you than you are to be saved. He's more willing to come into your heart than you are to receive him in.
[1:13] We have a verse here that's saying to you, all you have to do is open the door. Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me.
[1:34] This verse is also relevant for the backslider. For the person who was once following the Lord faithfully and then slid away.
[1:47] Perhaps bit by bit got cold, disinterested, distracted. Perhaps sin, some big shameful sin.
[2:00] One way or another lost the joy of their salvation and they're finding it difficult to get back to God. Maybe you're a backslider tonight.
[2:12] You were one time close but now you find yourself and feel yourself very far away from God. You feel yourself lukewarm, half-hearted, half-dead, just like the church at Laodicea.
[2:31] Well this verse is addressed to you. God says to you, be zealous and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock.
[2:42] If any man hear my voice and open the door, I won't stay away but I'll come. And dwell with you and sup with you and you with me.
[2:55] But it's also a relevant verse for those who are careless and couldn't care less about their souls. Who are thoughtless and godless.
[3:09] Because it tells you that there is a God who cares. God is not harsh or hard or unloving. God is not longing to destroy you.
[3:21] God is not ignorant of you or of your sins or of your need. God is love. God is knocking at the door of your heart tonight.
[3:35] And he's calling on you to humble yourself. To open the door of your heart and to receive him in. Behold I stand at the door and knock.
[3:48] If any man hear my voice and open the door. I will come in and sup with him and he with me. Whoever you are tonight.
[4:00] Whatever your situation. God is standing there. Willing to come into your life. Willing to share himself with you.
[4:12] Willing to fill you with his joy. And with his peace. And looking at this verse then.
[4:25] I want us to notice first. That Christ is knocking. Christ is knocking. The situation. At Laodicea. The church of Laodicea was such that they had become self satisfied.
[4:41] Laodicea was a particularly rich city. In ancient times. Famous for its textile industry. Famous also for its pharmaceuticals.
[4:53] It was a wealthy place. And these wealthy people in Laodicea. Thought that because they were wealthy.
[5:05] Outwardly. That they were also wealthy inwardly. It's a strange thing that. When we have plenty of. Food and clothes. And home.
[5:16] And money. But we tend often to forget. That there's a God. God before whom we have to stand. To give account. When all is going well. When we're healthy and wealthy.
[5:28] We forget that there's a judgment day. And this is what was happening in Laodicea. These people. They were wealthy. They were prosperous. They were doing really well.
[5:40] They were doing really well. And they were thinking. That they were doing fine spiritually too. They had become complacent. And lukewarm.
[5:51] They were doing fine. They were doing fine. The very opposite was the case. God is saying to them. You think you're rich and increased with goods.
[6:02] And in need of nothing. You're rich and rich. You are poor. But instead you are poor. And blind. And naked. Miserable and wretched.
[6:14] You are lukewarm. You're not what you ought to be. But very far from it. It's so easy to become careless.
[6:28] Because. Of the materialism. That has gripped our hearts. The cares and pleasures of this world. That pass our time.
[6:40] And absorb our interest. And to relegate. Your soul's needs. To a secondary place.
[6:52] Jesus says. Behold. Behold. He's trying to call attention. Listen.
[7:05] Behold. There's something important here. It's strange that people are unaware. Of it. It's too easy to be drugged.
[7:16] By Satan. Dulled by sin. Behold. I. Stand at the door. Not somebody insignificant. Or somebody unimportant.
[7:29] But I. I who am the creator of the world. I who am the king of kings. I who am the lord of all. I stand at the door.
[7:40] At your door. Not some. Puny individual. To be despised. And I'm standing there.
[7:52] That's a lowly place. At your door. You're not giving me any. Red carpet. Red carpet. Treatment. Why are you keeping me at your door?
[8:03] It's embarrassing to stand long at somebody's door. You go and you knock. If you knock a couple of times and no one answers.
[8:16] You feel embarrassed to stay there. You feel that the eyes of the neighbours are upon you. If you've lost your key. Or forgotten your key. It's not very pleasant standing at the door.
[8:29] For a prolonged period of time. If you're waiting for somebody to come with a key. Why then do you embarrass Christ.
[8:39] By making him stand at the door. Of your heart. Behold I stand at the door.
[8:50] And knock. He's trying to waken you up. He's trying to catch your attention. He's knocking. And in fact he's not just knocking.
[9:04] But he's shouting through the letterbox. Because he says here if any man hear my voice. Knocking and voice.
[9:16] He's using all the means as it were at his disposal. To make you hear. Standing there. Knocking. Shouting through the letterbox.
[9:32] How does Christ knock the door of your heart? He does it through preaching. Through sermons that you hear. He's calling you.
[9:42] To open your heart to him. Perhaps sermons you've heard many years ago. He does it through the teaching you've received. Teaching you received as a child perhaps.
[9:56] Teaching you received at different stages. He does it through the witness of other Christians. He does it through books. And through the reading of the Bible.
[10:08] Through these things God is calling. Knocking. The door of your heart. And he knocks at the door of your heart too. Through different things that happen in providence.
[10:21] Through troubles. Through sickness. Perhaps somebody close to you sick. Perhaps somebody dying. Different things around you.
[10:32] Different situations. He's calling. Calling through the letterbox. Why won't you listen? Why do you not hear?
[10:43] As Christ calls. It's amazing what patience.
[10:54] What loving concern. The Lord shows. That he stands there. And he keeps on standing there. And he keeps on knocking.
[11:05] And he keeps on calling. What patience. What long suffering. What amazing concern. That he doesn't just knock once or twice.
[11:18] And go away. As you and I would tend to do. But he stays there. For a prolonged period of time. Calling to you. I wonder how long has Christ been knocking at the door of your own heart.
[11:36] How old are you? For how many years has he been knocking? All day long.
[11:50] Have I stretched out my hands. To a disobedient and gainsame people. What a picture we have of God there. Words quoted by Paul in Romans 10.
[12:03] All day long. All day long. Have I stretched out my hands. Longing to be gracious. Longing to embrace you.
[12:14] Longing to show you my love. Longing to save your soul. All day long. Not just for a moment or two. You know how you would call your child to yourself.
[12:27] And you say. Come. Come my dear. You take them up in your arms. But what a strange picture. To see you there.
[12:38] Calling your child. And your child walks off. And your child ignores you. Surely there is something wrong. And is this not the picture that we have of God here. All day long.
[12:49] Stretching out his hands. To receive us. But you will not listen. And you despise his love. And you turn your back upon him. A disobedient.
[13:05] An again saying. An argumentative people. A stiff necked people. A people who will not bow. But who are stubborn.
[13:18] Resistant to the pleadings of God. To the promptings of his spirit. To the knockings of Christ. Through the door of conscience.
[13:29] At your heart. Yes. Your conscience does. Call to you. And Christ calls to you. Through your conscience. But how easy it is.
[13:41] For you to ignore. That voice. The picture we have in scriptures. Of a God who is waiting.
[13:52] To be gracious. Not willing that any should perish. Not a God who delights. In the death of the wicked. Not a God who loves.
[14:03] To throw people into hell. And torment them forever. But a God who is. Loving. And merciful. And longs to save people. And in his great love.
[14:14] Sent his only son. Into this world. To suffer on the cross. That you might be saved. And calls upon you. To accept the son. Into your heart. To receive Jesus Christ.
[14:26] As your savior. And so to escape. From the wrath. To come. And to experience. The love. And grace. And mercy. And kindness. Of the Lord.
[14:36] And grace. And grace. But you refuse. And yet he's still knocking.
[14:48] How many times have you refused to listen. And he's still knocking. He's knocking at the door of your heart tonight. Through this sermon.
[15:00] And he's saying. Open. Let me in. Take me into your heart. Take me into your life. Can you hear him knocking?
[15:13] Can you hear his voice? Inside your conscience. Inside your heart. Your soul calling to you. Christ says here.
[15:32] Behold I stand at the door and knock. Secondly. You must open that door. Holman Hunt.
[15:45] Painted a famous picture. Based upon this verse. He painted the human heart. With a door.
[15:57] And outside the door. He painted Christ. Knocking. And that door. Has no handle on the outside.
[16:10] The handle is on the inside. And the lock is on the inside. And there is Christ. Pictured. Knocking at the door. Of a human heart.
[16:22] A heart. That Christ can't open. Only. The sinner. Can open his own heart. God. Now that's a good way of emphasizing.
[16:34] The duty. That this verse lays upon you. It emphasizes the importance of your action. Of you doing something. Of you opening your heart.
[16:46] And your life to God. It stresses. Human responsibility. Your duty. Your duty. Your duty. The picture fails.
[17:00] Because it fails to present the whole truth. No picture could. The whole truth is of course. That man is dead.
[17:12] It also includes this. That man is dead in trespasses and sins. And if Christ will not open. If Christ will not. Make you hear his voice.
[17:26] By raising you from the dead. By opening your ears. By causing you to be born again. You will never.
[17:37] Open that door. Sadly. The picture is such. And it's obvious. As God's word is proclaimed. That people are dead.
[17:47] And trespass and sins. And can do nothing. And will do nothing. And don't want to do anything. To save their own souls. Carelessness. Thoughtlessness.
[17:58] Godlessness. Characterizes. Men and women. You can do nothing spiritually good. The picture is one.
[18:11] Of your own helplessness. On the way to a lost eternity. Helplessness. And hopelessness. And lostness.
[18:25] And yet. There is a call. There is the knocking at the door. If any man hear my voice. And open the door.
[18:37] I will come in to him. And sup with him. And he with me. That call that. Is issued.
[18:47] By Christ. Is a call addressed. To everyone in the world. That knocking. Is at the door of every heart. And when that knocking.
[19:00] Becomes. And when that call. Becomes an effectual call. Then the sinner responds. And the sinner responds. But sadly. Until that moment.
[19:13] The sinner. Shuts his ears. Sometimes. You and I. Hear the doorbell ringing.
[19:24] And we are tempted. Not to go to the door. Perhaps it is an unwelcome guest. Perhaps it is an awkward moment.
[19:36] And we don't want to go and open the door. And you know how difficult it is. Sometimes. When you. Go to a certain house.
[19:47] And you know people are in. And you knock at the door. And the people don't open the door. Well that is the situation. That we have here. Christ knocking at the door.
[20:00] And he knows that we are in. And yet. We won't open. And we hear this knocking. We. He is knocking at the door.
[20:11] Of our hearts. And yet. Man by nature. Chooses. To ignore. The knocking of Christ.
[20:22] Is that not the case with you? You have heard him knocking. Many a time. But you ignore. The knocking. You can't blame God.
[20:33] For that. That's simply rebellion. And it's simply. Rejection. Of the loving Christ. Who offers to come into your heart.
[20:48] But you won't. Because you have chosen. To go on and sin. You love sin. And Satan. Better than God. It's a wonderful truth.
[21:12] But the great king. The king. The king of kings. And lord of lords. This. Great one. Who created heaven and earth. Should want to come into our hearts and lives.
[21:25] That's amazing. It's wonderful. That Christ. That Christ. Should want to come in. The second person of the trinity. The third person of the trinity.
[21:36] Should want to come into our hearts and lives. That's amazing. It's amazing. It's amazing. It's amazing. How loving. And how gracious. And how kind God is.
[21:48] How he's pleading with us. And yet. Are you keeping him out? Behold.
[22:04] I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice. And open the door. I will come in to him. And sup with him.
[22:14] And he with me. He's calling. And you must open the door. And it's a terrible thing. To keep him outside.
[22:27] It's a very guilty sin. To keep Christ. Out of your life. If you want to open the door. You can. But the sad thing is.
[22:40] That you don't want to. At least some of you don't. You have no desire to open. You want to keep. Your heart by yourself.
[22:52] And you want to go your own way. And to choose your own pleasures. That's the way sadly. That it was with the church of Laodicea. And the people of that church.
[23:04] They were keeping their door closed. To Christ. They weren't repenting. And returning to him. They weren't coming back to the Lord.
[23:15] The Lord. Is the door of your heart shut? Open it to Christ tonight.
[23:31] Take him in. And take him as your savior. Receive and rest upon him alone. For salvation. And notice that there's a promise here.
[23:44] In the third place. He will come in. Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door. I will come in.
[23:57] To him. And will sup with him. And he with me. What a promise. If any man. Whoever you are. Whatever your past.
[24:09] Whatever sins you have committed. Whatever background you have. It doesn't matter. It's a free offer. And it's made to everyone. There's a calling to you.
[24:23] Tonight. If any man. Will hear my voice. And open the door. This great guest.
[24:34] Will come in. Even although your heart's. A smelly. Filthy heart. Rotten. With all the stink. And garbage.
[24:44] Of sin. The sins of your. 20. 30. 40. 50 years. Even although it's. Stinking and filthy.
[24:56] And has never been cleaned. Christ says. I will come in. I'm standing at the door knocking.
[25:07] And if you open. I will come in. And it won't be a short visit. Just standing on the floor. And then going out.
[25:17] He offers to come. And to sup with you. To take supper with you. Yes indeed. And he'll stay with you.
[25:29] I will come in. And sup with him. And he with me. He will share. With you. His life. He will fellowship with you.
[25:41] And dwell with you forever. He offers you. His fellowship. But you say. I have backslidden.
[25:53] And I've grieved him. And I've become careless. And he's left me. And he's quite justified.
[26:04] In leaving me. I know I'm guilty. I've drifted away from him. And now he's left me. He's far away. But friends.
[26:18] He's back knocking at the door. And he's saying. As many as I love. I rebuke and chasten. I've rebuked you.
[26:31] I've chastised you. I've made you feel my absence. I've made me. I've made you feel. Your coldness. Spirituality.
[26:42] And how much you need me. Be zealous therefore. And repent. Be diligent. And return him back to me. Behold.
[26:53] I stand at the door. And knock. If any man hear my voice. And open the door. I will come in with him. And sup with him. And he with me. Backslider.
[27:05] Christ is there. Willing. And ready to come in. And to dwell with you. If you're not a Christian tonight.
[27:19] He's there. Knocking at the door of your heart too. And saying. If any man hear. And open the door.
[27:32] I will come in. I will come in. Can you hear Christ tonight. Calling to you. Calling to you to repent. Calling to you to return to him.
[27:43] Calling to you to receive him. If you open the door of your heart. He will come in. And dwell with you.
[27:54] And save you. And love you forever. But it's possible for you. To keep Christ outside.
[28:06] It's possible for you to ignore the knocking. And to regard Christ as an unwelcome guest. Is that what you're doing tonight? Remember if you persist in keeping the door shut to him.
[28:25] He says. My spirit. Shall not always strive with man. He says. I won't keep on knocking.
[28:35] He has kept on knocking. And he's knocked for. Perhaps many a year. But he won't keep on knocking forever.
[28:47] There comes a point in time. When the knocking stops. When he turns away. And when he leaves you. My spirit will not always strive with man.
[29:03] If you won't listen. If you won't heed. If you won't open. If you won't respond to my call. If you won't receive my love.
[29:14] If you despise my pleadings. And keep me outside. I'll turn away and leave you. And leave you forever.
[29:26] And leave you without a God. And leave you without a savior. And leave you without. God's fellowship. And God's blessing. And leave you in the coldness.
[29:38] And hardness. And deadness. And darkness. And misery. Of a lost eternity. Of a lost eternity. Because friends.
[29:49] There's only the two places. Heaven. And hell. Eternal happiness. And eternal sorrow. A place of joy.
[30:04] And a place of woe. And Christ is offering to you. Joy and happiness. And blessedness. To everyone. Who receives them into their hearts and lives.
[30:17] But those who don't. They are left to perish in darkness. And lostness. Forever. Behold. Behold.
[30:34] I stand at the door and knock. He's knocking there. Can you hear him? Knocking to you through the preaching. Knocking to you through his word.
[30:46] Knocking to you through your conscience. Through different things happening in your life. Knocking. Calling you to open your life to him. And if you take him into your heart.
[30:59] He will dwell there. And God will be in you. Forever. And he says if you take me into your heart. I will take you into my home.
[31:12] To him that overcometh. Will I grant to sit with me in my throne. Even as I also overcame and am set down with my father in his throne.
[31:23] If you receive Christ into your heart. He will receive you into his throne. So that you will live with him and reign with him. Forevermore.
[31:33] Remember the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus was passing through Jericho. And he saw a man there sitting in a tree.
[31:48] Who was he? He was the chief sinner in that area. The chief publican. One who was despised by everyone.
[31:58] Because he had made himself rich at the expense of his fellow men. But he was wanting to see Jesus.
[32:10] He was filled with curiosity. He had heard about this strange man. Who was a friend of publicans and sinners. And there he sat in the tree.
[32:21] Peering down on Jesus. And Jesus suddenly stops and looks up. And says to him. Zacchaeus. Make haste and come down.
[32:33] For today I must abide at your house. I'll come into your home. And I'll eat with you. And live with you. And Zacchaeus.
[32:44] Made haste. And came down from that tree with joy. Receiving Christ. Into his home. And into his heart. What about you?
[32:57] Are you like Zacchaeus? Or would you have carried on sitting in the tree and said. I prefer my sins. I'd rather carry on. Making money.
[33:09] And enjoying myself. Or would you like Zacchaeus. Come down. To receive Christ. He's calling to you.
[33:20] For the son of man that come. Has come. To seek and to save. That which was lost. Jesus is out looking for lost sinners tonight.
[33:34] He's looking for people like you. To come into your life. And to give you salvation. To come into your life. To come into your life. To come into your life. To come into your life. But are you keeping him out of your life?
[33:47] Are you keeping the door shut? Let us pray. O Lord our God.
[33:58] We praise thee that thou art so full of love. So full of mercy. And so full of grace. That thou art calling to sinners such as we are.
[34:11] To repent. And thou art knocking at the door of our heart. And thou art long suffering. And willing to come in. And to dwell with us. Lord we pray that we would receive thee.
[34:24] Into our hearts and lives. Help us O Lord to give heed. Help us to respond to thy word. O do thou teach us thy ways.
[34:36] And leave us not in darkness. Keep us O Lord from putting cotton wool in our ears. So that we will not hear. Thy voice as thou dost call us.
[34:49] And knock at our doors. Grant O Lord that each one of us. Would hear the callings of Christ. And that we would open to him.
[35:00] And receive thee joyfully into our hearts and lives. That thou wouldst be our God. And that we might be thy people. Keep us O Lord from saying.
[35:12] That we want Christ. When it's just a lie. Because we're told that if we want Christ. He is there. Knocking at the door.
[35:23] And all we have to do is to receive him. Into our hearts and lives. We bless thee O Lord. That thou art so willing. To save us.
[35:33] More willing to save us. Than we are to be saved. Help us Lord to return to thee. To seek thee and to find thee. To accept thee.
[35:45] And to follow thee. And to live with God. Forever more. For Jesus sake. Amen.